As with anything from another culture, there will always be things in Anime and
Manga that are very foreign to British fans. Whether frequently used terms or
words that have crossed over into English speaking fan circles or traditions and
everyday things that seem strange to Westerners. Some hardcore fans use
these differences as a barrier to exclude those less zealous than themselves,
which is something we find particularly annoying about fan culture.
Therefore we have constructed (and will continue to add to) this guide to these
little quirks and 'fanspeak' Japanese terms that will hopefully help people
understand them better. Please click on the buttons below to be taken to
the relevant section, we start with a Glossary...

What do all those Japanese words mean? What are all
those fans of Japanese animation talking about? If you are new to
this then it’s likely you are confused but here is a list of words that
will enhance your understanding. Some of these are quite common but
others are not quite so common. We hope it helps if you are having
trouble understanding certain words and terms.
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Anime – Anime is a Japanese word used to
describe all forms of animation. In the west it is used to
describe specifically Japanese animation. Pronounced ‘ah-nee-may’

Manga– A Japanese word for comics.
Although originally used solely to refer to Japanese comics, the term is
now commonly applied to any comic drawn in a Japanese style, regardless
of where it comes from. Pronounced ‘mahn-ga’.

Manhwa – A term for Korean comics. Manhwa (sometimes spelled 'Manwa',
'Manhua' or 'Mahnwa') is an occasionally used term, as Korean comics are
similar in style to Japanese manga and are usually called manga as well.
Pronounced 'mahn-wa'
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AMV - Stands for 'Anime Music Video', an unofficial music video to
a popular song created by budding video editors from clips of anime films
and series. AMV creators use the song and anime without permission
but it is generally turned a blind eye to. There are often AMV
competitions at conventions, and AMV creators take them very seriously.

Arigato Gozaimasu – 'Thank you' in Japanese, people often use the
less formal 'Arigato' instead. Pronounced 'A-ree-gah-toe goz-eye-mass'

Baka– The Japanese word for 'stupid', 'idiot' or 'fool'. Pronounced ‘bah-kah’ and often heard
in Ranma ½.

Bento – A cold lunchbox featured in many
anime and manga. Basically a wooden or plastic box that has
several compartments to hold different foods and
usually contains sushi and vegetables. Pronounced ‘ben-tow’.

Bishojo – A word that means 'beautiful girl'. Bishojo is not
as common a term as Bishonen (see below), but is generally used to refer
to elegant, thin, long-haired young women. Pronounced 'bish-oh-joe'

Bishonen – A word that means 'beautiful young man' or 'beautiful
boy'. Bishonen is often used to describe beautiful, slightly
effeminate men, particularly those that are tall, thin, long-haired,
strong and mysterious. Bishonen is sometimes used to refer to art
that focuses strongly on this style of character, and bishonen art is
common in 'Shojo' manga and anime (see below). Sometimes shortened
to 'Bishy' in fan circles, and normally pronounced 'bish-oh-nen'

Bushido – 'The Way of the Warrior'. Bushido is the
traditional code of honour that Japanese warriors adhered to, and it set
down a strict set of rules for them to follow. Similar in many
ways to the code of Chivalry followed by European Knights, pronounced
'bush-ee-doh'

Chibi – This is a drawing style where anime/manga characters are
shrunk into a small, cute, child-like form. This drawing style is
sometimes called ‘super-deformed’ in the west and is pronounced ‘chee-be’.

Cosplay – Dressing up as anime and manga characters.
Cosplay competitions held at conventions allow fans (known as 'cosplayers') dress
up as their favourite characters, pose for pictures and win prizes.
Hardcore fans can treat cosplay very seriously, sometimes spending
months making their costumes. In Japan Cosplay Cafés - where the
staff (and occasionally the visitors) dress up as anime and manga
characters - are quite popular too, and many merchandise companies have
twigged that making replica costumes and accessories for cosplayers is a
useful source of extra income. Pronounced 'coz-play'

Digisubs -
A rarely used term for Fansubs (see below) made on digital
media such as DVD or MPEG and AVI computer video formats. The
picture quality of these is much greater than traditional fansubs (which
were generally distributed on VHS) and they can also be copied numerous
times without losing quality, or distributed online for free. The
term digisub is rarely used now, with 'fansub' generally being used to
describe all fan-translated anime regardless of the format. Whereas
fansub creators (otherwise known as fansubbers) could control the distribution of fansubs
on video they can't
with digisubs and they often continue to be shared even after the properly
licensed anime becomes available.

Doujinshi – A self produced manga created and released by fans and
jobbing manga-ka. Often these are based on an existing series and
often they are pornographic. The quality of the art and the
perversity of the content vary greatly, but it is worth noting that some
well known Manga-ka and artists draw and release doujinshi between their main series -
Yoshitoshi ABe's Haibane Renmei started life as a doujinshi and
Excel Saga
creator Koshi Rikdo has done several pornographic Love Hina ones. Pronounced
‘doo-jin-she’.

Ecchi – A word sometimes used to describe pornographic
anime and manga. The word Ecchi is more commonly used to describe
anime or manga with milder sexual
themes, bawdy comedies and series that have large amounts of fan service
(see below). Pronounced ‘eh-chee’.

Fan Service - A term used for moments in
anime or
manga where a character flashes a bit of flesh or underwear to titillate
the viewer. This
can be anything from full frontal nudity to a character in their swimming
costume, and is often something as tame as a quick flash of their pants.
Compromising situations are often crowbarred into anime and manga simply
for this purpose, which is why walking in on female characters when they
are bathing is such a common occurrence...

Fansub – This is an anime subtitle track produced by fans and
added to anime not yet translated into the fansub creators' (also called 'fansubbers') home language.
The quality of fansubs can vary depending on the translating ability of
the fansubber and also on whether they do a literal translation or their
own script. Fansubs used to be distributed on VHS and VCD for the cost of
the Cassette or CD. Although unlicensed by the animation studio, fansubs
generally escaped prosecution for piracy as many fansubbers translate
series unlicensed in their home country and stop distributing their
versions when the rights are bought properly. However, this is
becoming more difficult to control with the advent of digital media (see
'Digisubs' above), and studios have started to clamp down on fansub
groups, particularly those who illegally distribute licensed series and
films.

Gashapon – 'Capsule' toys that are sold in Japan. The capsules – small
plastic containers usually about two or three inches (4-6cm) in diameter –
are bought from
machines similar to gumball machines and contain collectable pre-painted
toys and figures. Basically a bit like Kinder Surprise eggs but
containing stuff that is actually worth owning. Although Gashapon
capsules mostly contain anime and manga merchandise, there are also highly
detailed replica vehicles, animals, plants and just about anything else
you can think of available. Very collectible amongst
fans and pronounced ‘gah-sha-pohn’.

Hai - 'Yes' in Japanese. Pronounced in
the same way as the English word 'High'

Hentai– Japanese word for 'pervert' or 'perverted'. In the
west it is used a generic term to describe pornographic anime and manga. Pronounced ‘hen-tie’.

Hiragana - One of the three common Japanese alphabets (see also
Kanji and Katakana). Hiragana is made up of 48 symbols that
represent syllables, and was developed by the Japanese to supplement Kanji
(see below) because of the differences in Chinese and Japanese grammar and
pronunciation. Unlike Kanji Hiragana is not that hard to learn, but
unfortunately you need to learn Kanji to use it properly. Pronounced
'Heer-ah-gah-nah'.

Iie - 'No' in Japanese. Pronounced 'Ee-ay'

Kanji– One of the three common Japanese alphabets (see also
Katakana and Hiragana). Kanji is a set of ideographic symbols
(symbols that represent ideas) developed in China, and is extremely
difficult to learn. This is mostly because there are well over a
thousand Kanji symbols in everyday use in Japan, plus around another
thousand that are used more occasionally! Not only this but the context
they are used in can change the pronunciation of each symbol quite
considerably. Pronounced ‘cahn-jee’.

Katakana – One of the three common Japanese alphabets (see also
Kanji and Hiragana). Katakana is made up of 48 symbols that
represent syllables, and is mostly used for phonetically spelling words
and names imported from foreign languages, such as Takushi (Taxi).
Again, Katakana is not that hard to learn and can be pretty useful. Pronounced ‘kah-tah-kah-nah’.

Kawaii – The Japanese word for cute. Pronounced ‘ka-why-ee’.

Kendo – Traditional Japanese sword-fighting. Kendo is still
taught in Japanese schools and it is a national sport, with tournaments
and training halls all over Japan. In Kendo tournaments and
practice fighters wear heavy protective gear and fight with wooden
swords called 'bokkun'. In a similar way to fencing, points are
awarded for clean hits to the head, chest and wrists, but only if a
connection is made with the top third of the sword and the correct area
is called as the strike is made. Three points are required to win
a bout. Pronounced 'ken-dow'

Kitsune - A Japanese fox. Common in
folklore where they are often depicted as mischievous tricksters who can
perform illusions, Kitsune turn up frequently in fantasy anime and manga.
Mitsune Konno in Love Hina is nicknamed
Kitsune because of her half closed eyes - which resemble those of a fox.
Pronounced 'kit-su-nay'

Konban-wa – 'Good evening' in Japanese. Pronounced 'Kon-ban-wa'

Konnichi-wa – A Japanese greeting used in the afternoon, generally
means 'hello' or 'good day' and is pronounced 'ko-nee-chee-wa'

Lolicon -a Japanese term derived from the term 'Lolita
Complex' and is used to describe images which feature underage female
characters in erotic situations, or people who like them.
Disturbing. Pronounced 'lolly-con'.

Moé -
Japanese slang which has been adopted in the West to refer to a fetish
or love for anime/manga characters. Someone who has a fetish for
school uniform would be a 'school uniform moé' for example. Also
refers to a love for a hobby, eg. 'aircraft moé'. Pronounced
'mo-ay'.

Ohaiyo Gozaimasu – 'Good morning' in Japanese, people often use the
less formal 'Ohaiyo' instead, pronounced 'Oh-hiy-oh goz-eye-mass'

Okonomiyaki – A Japanese dish that is cabbage batter wrapped around any kind of
food, usually meat and vegetables. Basically a mix between an
omelette and a pancake, Okonimiyaki is cooked on a Teppen grill (see below) and
often served with mayonnaise, a special Okonimiyaki sauce and pickled ginger. Again, this is often seen in
Ranma ½
but does appear in other anime and manga and is sometimes referred to as
Japanese Pizza. Pronounced ‘oh-ko-no-mee-yah-kee’.

Omake – A Japanese word used to describe things that don't really
fit into categories. Often used to describe hidden DVD extras,
random sketches or bizarre extras that appear in manga and anime.
Pronounced 'oh-mah-kay'

Otaku– A Japanese term
used to describe hardcore fans which is often used to describe hardcore
fans of sci-fi, computer games, anime and manga. Although used
with pride by many western fans to describe themselves, the term carries
as negative a connotation in Japan as 'Trekkie' or 'geek' does here.
Pronounced ‘oh-tah-koo’.

OVA – Stands for ‘Original Video Animation’. In Japan a lot of
anime is created purely for the VHS and DVD formats and will not be
broadcast on TV or in cinemas, this allows the creators to have more
flexibility than television will allow but without the financial risk of a cinema
feature. Many of these series or one-off specials
are available here (e.g. Samurai X). Sometimes the abbreviation can appear
as OAV (Original Animation Videos) but it means the same thing.

OWA - Stands for 'Original Web Animation'. OWA is an
occasionally used term for the few anime shorts and bonuses released
directly to the internet, often for promotional purposes.

Pachinko - An immensely popular game in Japan
which is effectively a vertical bagatelle table crossed with a slot
machine. To play you must purchase small ball bearings which you
pour into the machine, and which then fall through a playing surface
studded with pegs. Most balls fall through and into the machines
pot, but occasionally a couple will fall into winning pockets, activating
a fruit machine style panel which spins to reveal three symbols, if these
match you win. The prize is a load more Pachinko balls which can be
exchanged for goods or money, or fed back through the machine.
Pachinko is the most popular form of gambling in Japan and is played in
loud and garish Pachinko Parlours by both people of both sexes.
Pronounced 'Pah-chin-ko'.

Pocky – A popular brand of Japanese snacks which consist of thin
biscuit sticks that have been dipped into chocolate or a variety of
flavoured mousses. Pocky is named after the noise the sticks make
when they break, it has become very popular amongst anime and manga fans
in the UK and several companies have started to import it. In
Japan there are several flavours and varieties available, as well as
imitators and a savoury version called Pretz. Pronounced 'pok-ee'

Ronin – A 'masterless' samurai. Samurai whose lord was
defeated or whose family were shamed and lost their standing could
either commit suicide or abandon the code of Bushido (see above) and
become ronin. Many ronin simply acted as mercenaries and would
work for whoever paid them, some became outlaws and criminals and some
tried to follow their code of honour. Ronin are romanticised in
films like Seven Samurai, but the term is commonly used nowadays to
refer to students who are studying to retake failed exams.
Pronounced 'row-nin'

Ramen - A Chinese noodle dish which consists of a big bowl of
watery but flavoursome soup containing noodles, vegetables and
occasionally meat. Other common ingredients include seaweed, egg,
tofu and Japanese fishcake. Pronounced 'rah-men'

Sake – The traditional alcoholic drink of Japan, sake is a strong
wine made from rice and is available in many different regional
varieties with varying strengths, flavours and quality. Sake can
be served hot or cold and can be clear or cloudy. Pronounced 'sah-kay'

Sakura – Japanese word for cherry blossom. The blossoming of
cherry trees is a really important thing in Japan and there is a lot of
symbolism attached to them (falling cherry blossoms are often used to
represent loss). It is also a popular girls name. Pronounced
'sah-ku-rah'

Sama – A word used after a persons name to show extreme respect,
for example 'Miyazaki-sama'. Generally only used to those with a
far higher social standing than the speaker.

Samurai – A member of a noble Japanese family. Samurai had
the highest social standing amongst a lord's subjects and held positions
of power and influence during Japan's lengthy feudal period.
Samurai were expected to follow the code of Bushido (see above), serve
their lord unquestioningly and were also expected to be well versed in
arts and literature. Effectively samurai were the Japanese
equivalent of European Knights, and family and lineage was extremely
important to them. Pronounced 'sam-yoo-riy'

San – A word used after a persons name to show respect, for example
'Daniel-san' or 'Miyazaki-san'. San is the equivalent of the 'Mr',
'Mrs', 'Miss' or 'Ms', and is generally used between equals. In
Japanese calling someone by their name alone is considered
overly-familiar and is only really done by very close friends and
family.

Sayonara – Japanese for 'goodbye', pronounced 'siy-oh-nah-rah'

Seiyuu – An anime voice actor/actress. Pronounced ‘say-yoo’.

Sensei – Japanese word for teacher or instructor. Sensei can
be used on its own or after the teacher's name, for example
'Miyazaki-sensei'. Pronounced 'sehn-say'

Shinto - The native religion of Japan.
Although containing aspects of Buddhism it is a mostly Shamanistic faith
which has no religious text and is focused on the worship of ancestors and
nature. An uncomplicated faith which has a symbiotic relationship
with Buddhism in Japan, which sees the two religions worshipped side by
side with tolerance - something which seems a bit unusual by the standards
of most other religions. Pronounced 'Shin-tow'

Shojo – Means 'Girl'. Used as a generic term for
anime and manga aimed at
young females. Pronounced ‘sho-jo’.

Shojo-ai - A romantic story between two women which does not
contain explicit sexual imagery and is more softcore then Yuri
(see below). Pronounced 'sho-jo-i'

Shonen – Means 'young boy' or 'boy'. Used as a generic term
for anime and manga aimed at young males. Pronounced ‘sho-nehn’.

Shonen-ai - A romantic story between two men which does not
contain explicit sexual imagery and is more softcore then Yaoi
(see below). Pronounced 'sho-nen-i'

Shotacon -a Japanese term used to describe images which
feature underage male characters in erotic situations, or people who
like them. Disturbing, but can sometimes refer to a young
character which looks cute. Pronounced 'sho-ta-con'.

Tankoban – A Japanese manga graphic novel, usually pocket sized.
Most recent western manga releases (such as those from Tokyopop and VIZ
Media) are
in the Tankoban format. Pronounced ‘tan-koh-bahn’.

Tanuki – A creature native to Japan that is similar in appearance
to a raccoon, and are sometimes referred to in anime and manga as 'raccoon
dogs'. In Japanese folklore Tanuki are believed to have shape
shifting abilities, something which is often represented in anime and
manga. Pronounced ‘tah-noo-kee’.

Teppen
- A Teppen is a large hot plate used in cooking, and is used as a generic term
for cuisine cooked on hot plates. The whole counter in Okonomiyaki
restaurants are usually Teppen plates and the food is cooked on them right
in front of you (or you cook it yourself). Pronounced 'Teh-pen'.

Yanki - a Japanese term generally used to
describe female delinquents and gang members. Derived from the word 'yankee'
due to the American fashions the delinquents have adopted. Pronounced 'yan-kee'.

Yaoi – A pornographic manga or anime containing a same sex love story
between two men. Pronounced ‘yah-oh-ee’.

Yuri - a pornographic manga or anime containing a same sex story
between two women. Pronounced 'yur-ee'
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If there are any terms we have not included and you think that they should
be then please e-mail us at
webmaster@animetion.co.uk and let us know.
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